ParDeus or anyone else in the know about Leptin, I have a question...

[Burning_Inside]

I explained to someone on another health board about the whole refeed thing, and this was the reply i got, and i was curious as to your (ParDeus)take on the subject, or of course anyone elses.

"The only concern I have the binging on the goodies once a week...I really suggest you get your blood test for the glucemia tested, if you eat this why for a long time, you have a potential of harming your sugar levels (pancreas) in the blood.

I would like to see you eating balanced meals and includes a goody, just one maybe 4 times per week. I think if you do this, you won't want to binge and you will have it under control as you will have goodies too, but in a balanced manner."

 

[MS]

Well, if you're doing refeeds properly then, almost by definition, your insulin sensitivity will be high. As long as you keep the fat intake low on your refeeds (this is NOT a binge on 'goodies'....most 'goodies' are also high fat), then it shouldn't cause undue stress on your insulin/glucose disposal systems. Eating high fat, high sugar junk food in excess on a daily basis (like the majority of westerners do) IS definitely bad for your long term insulin sensitivity. But to the extent that controlled refeeds help you to drop body fat and retain muscle (both of which increase insulin sensitivity), it's a lot healthier than diets that lead to fatloss plateaus and reduced metabolism! The use of ALA is also pretty common practice among folks in the know doing refeeds, and this increases the body's ability to take up the extra glucose even more. So it's all good as long as it's not a junk food feeding frenzy.

Of course if you're worried about it, you can do high carb refeeds using moderate to low GI foods instead of high GI. It will still work.

 

[PwB]

Burning, the person who responded on the other board most likely doesnt understand how leptin works/effects hormones so they wouldnt understand the reasoning for the refeeds.

As a personal note I can attest to fat loss that was close to 0 for weeks to tremendous progress right after I started using frequent refeeds, and this is coming from someone that has read tons of books/studies/etc on low/no carb diets and reads from some of the greatest writers in our field. (BTW, Lyle McDonald IS the man) What I try to do is on dieting days keep insulin as low as possible w/ low carbs, meats and efa's, as to lose fat rapidly and keep my body as healthy as possible.

It really comes down to this, life is about comromises. Realize that the refeeds for general health are NOT optimals, in the sense that refined carbs/sugars, high GI, II foods, elevated insulin levels, are NOT healthy. Agreed. BUT, take into account, neather is dieting as to the body it is essentially starvation, which the body does anything to fight against. So is it worth dieting w/ no refeeds but also having depleted leptin levels, screwed up hormones, perhaps no libido, low energy, lathargy, etc etc because you have gotten lean below your set point or is it worth keeping leptin reasonable and keeping the body a little more NORMAL, in terms of the brains perception on whats going on based on leptins signals and the hormone response b/c of it. I feel the refeeds are more than worth it on many levels, physiologically, psychologically... It is partly to allow you to have "goodies", but even more importantly to cause an effect on hormones in the body so as you diet your bodys hormones dont become as screwed as they would w/out refeeds. Again, if the responder knew the reasoning behind it, they would likely change their views. But I doubt they know whats going on as this whole leptin thing is not very mainstream to the general public. (again, assuming it is coming from someone in the general public)

 

[johnb]

Well, considering that their reply was barely in English, I wouldn't pay attention to them at all.

As the others have said, he/she really just isn't getting it. Refeeds aren't about cheating, their primary function is to "reset" the bodies fat-burning mechanisms. The fact that you generally eat "cheat" foods to accomplish this is coincidental.

 

[MS]

I might add that if this person can't get these concepts (usually because of other preconcieved ideas being put in their head), then you could try the angle that the evidence is pretty strong that this is how we evolved (for the most part). Expend lots of energy hunting, not enough food over winter/drought etc..., lose fat, go into 'starvation mode', then suddenly find a beehive or a ripe fruit tree in spring and go HOG WILD until it's all gone. Eat lots of 'goodies' through summer and fall (all going well). Gain muscle, fat, energy, make babies all in preparation for the next lean period. I don't imagine any of our ancestors ate a nicely balanced diet with a constant energy supply 24/7/365. As such, I can't imagine an occassional high carb refeed will do us much harm either. From the evolutionary point of view you can also see why the fats should be kept low. There are NO naturally occurring foods that are high in fat AND carbs. Thus, if you're gonna eat sugar I say EAT SUGAR. Don't screw it up with lots of fat.

BTW, obesity and high fat diets are what cause blood sugar problems. Any method that helps you lose and keep fat off is better for you than any diet that you can't stick with or fat loss stalls. Refeeds work, it's that simple.

 

[PwB]

Right on, MS. I've read what you have said, one good source of information that covers what you said pretty well is "Lights Out", although the writers pretty much lump every problem based on a few linear causes.

She's right, the high fat AND carb diet along w/ inactivity is what has made us fat, not just high carbs or just high fat intake.

 

[SirWanksalot]

Get Lyle McDonalds latest E-Book titled "bromocriptine"

entire book is related to leptin.

Sirwanksalot